President Trump on Tuesday nominated Alina Habba, his former campaign spokeswoman and personal lawyer, to be New Jersey’s U.S. attorney for the next four years, a move that would remove her interim status.
In doing so, Mr. Trump endorsed a loyal supporter with little prosecutorial experience to continue leading one of the country’s top law enforcement offices. Mr. Trump in March appointed Ms. Habba to the office, which has historically been an incubator for prominent elected officials and jurists.
Ms. Habba has bucked the traditionally nonpartisan approach of U.S. attorneys. She has aggressively carried out Mr. Trump’s wish to use the Justice Department to target his enemies, including Democratic elected officials who oppose the president’s immigration agenda.
“We could turn New Jersey red. I really do believe that,” Ms. Habba said in an interview with a conservative podcast host after her appointment. “Hopefully while I’m there, I can help that cause.”
She has directed the government’s lawyers to investigate Philip D. Murphy, the Democratic governor of New Jersey, and the state’s attorney general, Matthew J. Platkin, over the state’s immigration policies.
In May, Ms. Habba’s office brought criminal trespassing charges against Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, after he was arrested outside an immigration detention facility. Her office has also charged Representative LaMonica McIver, who was also present at the facility when Mr. Baraka was arrested, with assault.
The charges against Mr. Baraka were later dropped, and Ms. Habba’s office earned a rare admonition from a federal magistrate judge.
“Your role is not to secure convictions at all costs, nor to satisfy public clamor, nor to advance political agendas,” Judge André M. Espinosa told prosecutors.
In June, Mr. Baraka sued Ms. Habba over his arrest, arguing that it was politically motivated and that Ms. Habba had defamed him. Addressing Mr. Baraka last month, Ms. Habba wrote on social media, “feel free to join me in prioritizing violent crime and public safety. Far better use of time for the great citizens of New Jersey.”
Ms. Habba, the daughter of Catholic Iraqi immigrants who fled religious persecution, had no prosecutorial experience before her appointment this year, and had previously overseen a small civil litigation firm.
After meeting Mr. Trump through his Bedminster, N.J., golf club, she started working for him in 2021 as a legal representative, filing a $100 million lawsuit against The New York Times and Mr. Trump’s niece, claiming they were plotting to gain access to his tax records. A judge later dismissed the suit.
She then helped lead Mr. Trump’s legal defense in a defamation suit filed by the writer E. Jean Carroll, who had accused Mr. Trump of raping her decades earlier; the jury found in favor of Ms. Carroll and Mr. Trump was ordered to pay her $83.3 million in damages. Ms. Habba also represented Mr. Trump in a case brought by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, who accused him of falsely inflating his net worth by billions of dollars; the judge in that case imposed a penalty of more than $450 million. Mr. Trump is appealing both cases.
The U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey employs about 150 federal prosecutors. Conservatives like the Supreme Court justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and the former New Jersey governor Chris Christie have previously led the office.
Ms. Habba must be confirmed by the Senate by the end of July. Her nomination could be blocked by New Jersey’s Democratic senators, as Senator Chuck Schumer of New York has done for Mr. Trump’s nominees for that state’s top U.S. attorney offices. Aides to Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim of New Jersey had no immediate comment on the nomination.
The judges of New Jersey’s federal court also could appoint her to fill the role until she or another nominee is confirmed by the Senate.
Tracey Tully contributed reporting.
Santul Nerkar is a Times reporter covering federal courts in Brooklyn.
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